A Call to Arms for Education Innovation

Imagine that the U.S. Government issued a call to the most creative, innovative and productive parts of our society: Create an Algebra I curriculum so exciting, so well-designed, so engaging and so firmly based on well-established principles of learning that kids would be clamoring to get into the course, rushing to class every day and learning the subject at unheard-of levels. Imagine that this call enticed technology developers, entertainment companies and top university researchers and developers to devote their best minds to the task, knowing that if they develop a practical model and it passes a rigorous evaluation for effectiveness, it could be used in secondary schools across the U.S. and, indeed, throughout the world.

If such a call went out and were backed up with serious funding for development and evaluation, does anyone doubt that American ingenuity could solve the problem of Algebra I? Of course it could. Many groups might try out prototypes and many, perhaps most, might fail. But if just one or just a few programs succeeded in making the world's most effective Algebra I course, the impact would be dramatic.

The idea that such a process of innovation could exist is not a fantasy. This vision has recently been proposed by the Obama administration. The idea is to create an ARPA for education. ARPA stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency. The original ARPA is DARPA, in the Defense Department. A hugely successful response to the Soviet Sputnik launch in 1957, DARPA sponsored development of the Internet (originally the ARPANET), GPS, stealth technology, pilotless drones and much, much more.

In education, an ARPA would encourage and fund development of new technologies and approaches, which would need to show evidence that they improve learning substantially in comparison to current methods. ARPA-Education would probably focus on technology innovations, but could fund anything likely to make a big difference in learning.

Of course, ARPA-Education would not just be about Algebra I. Imagine simultaneous projects in beginning reading, in science and mathematics at all levels, in solutions for English language learners and in school-to-college and school-to-work transitions. Imagine innovative approaches to teaching foreign language, history and geography, perhaps using elaborate simulations. Imagine novel approaches to teacher professional development and initial teacher training, classroom management and formative assessment.

President Obama has proposed to start ARPA-Education with $90 million -- peanuts compared to the $3.2 billion DARPA, but a very good start in the education field. The Administration's ARPA proposal is the logical next step from the equally unprecedented Investing in Innovation (i3) program already under way, which is helping proven programs to scale up and helping newcomers build capacity. What ARPA would add to i3 is a proactive outreach to non-traditional innovators capable of creating astonishing leaps forward in educational practice.

Education reform has been stuck in recent years trying to improve the management of the same old system. Both the existing i3 and the proposed ARPA offer potential for breakthroughs where it counts: in daily classroom practice.

America leads the world not because of its capability in managing existing systems. It leads the world because of its unparalleled capacity for innovation. It's about time that we apply this capacity to solve our education problems. The Obama administration is headed in exactly the right direction in seeing innovation, not regulation and top-down mandates, as the way forward for education.

 

 

 

Comments

[The Advocacy Institute]

11:58 AM on 05/13/2011

I'm a big fan of DARPA, and have often thought that education needed a similar initiative. However, there's one big reason why DARPA can't/won't translate to education. It's because the field of education isn't required to use proven teaching approaches. The military has an advantage....troops do what they are told to do....in fact, few would say "I don't want to wear that my body armor....I'll stick w/ the old stuff." But teachers/schools/school boards continue to do the same thing without any results (or worse, with negative results)....investing more in cutting edge teaching methods isn't likely to change this behavior.

[TINA ANDRES]

10:00 AM on 05/04/2011

More ideas that will never have the funding to work. There are wonderful computer programs out there to teach math to students and guess what? Schools do not have the money to buy them and if they do manage to scrape together enough, they don't have the computers to implement them. All of these great ideas fall flat when you have 1300 students and 65 computers that need constant maintenance. When a program costs 20K to start and then another 10 K a year to keep, where do you think schools are supposed to get the money? We are not lacking in great programs, we are lacking a system that enables teachers to implement them with classes of 40 students and little access to technology.

[becut]

02:00 AM on 05/03/2011

Why don't we just hang the teacher from the ceiling and allow students to throw basketballs at her until she is dunked in a pool of water. The students will be graded on how much fun they have doing this and I bet they will run to this class daily and learn how to count too.

This stuff is rediculous. I thought we were suppose to be preparing our children for the real world. Unless they will be able to be entertained and excited about working a job later, I don't think it is a good idea to set children up with the notion that they really need enjoy everything in order to take part in it. Life is not about fun, it is about dicipline and hard work and this is why we see so many adults unable to cope with the real world and need artificial means (ie drugs) in order to cope. Why don't we adults insist that they work very hard at a young age, so that life will be easier later for them, not the other way around.

[Tully Rand]

08:34 PM on 05/03/2011

I could not agree more. I have always subscribed to the idea that school is not meant to be entertainment. If one has fun while learning that is terrific. However, that is of secondary importance. In far too many communities school has become nothing more than a social event and a place for entertainment. Teachers are no longer allowed to demand the levels of discipline and dedication required in a classroom setting to produce high level learning. The end result is that an increasing number of young adults enter the workforce with few basic skills and no work ethic.

[MathySteph]

07:50 AM on 05/25/2011

Why are people so strongly against making learning more enjoyable? My most memorable educational experiences are the ones that were fun, but they were still LEARNING experiences. They stick with me to this day and, at the time, made me want to go back to school each day for more. There is a difference between you viewing this as people trying to make school FUN and ENTERTAINMENT and current education developers trying to make learning ENGAGING and MEANINGFUL... a big difference.

To that end, why can't life be about fun while also being about hard work? I find a great balance of both in my adult life, and I think that is healthy. I cope with the bad without drugs or alcohol or another abusive action or substance, and I know how to enjoy the moment and make the most of things. Having fun does not preclude working hard. Many people who enjoy their job do that everyday. Also, I really think it is unfounded to link making school more fun with adults being unable to cope and using drugs. I am fairly certain most studies point to the communities within which a person operates as being the greatest contributer or influence to using drugs and participating in other illegal activities.

By the way, it's "ridiculous", "supposed", and "discipline".

[mlaiuppa]

11:49 PM on 05/02/2011

So what?

Research is being ignored now because it doesn't support what Arne already believes.

I've heard research-based up the flagpole but when it comes to flying it's shot down.

There are 17 research studies that show having a certificated teacher librarian in a school library raises test scores and promotes student achievement. California had one librarian for every 5,000 students in 2008 and has just pink slipped a whole lot more.

Ditto vouchers.

Ditto merit pay.

There's research that shows high school students don't really "learn" until after 10am. And yet they still start school at 7:30 am. Why? So it won't interfere with the bus schedule, or the cafeteria schedule or the intramural sports schedule.

There's plenty of research out there about how to improve schools. But implementing most of it costs money. And when it comes to money those in charge (not the teachers BTW) will always choose cheap over research.

Listen to them now. Class size doesn't matter. You can teach more students, for less money and still raise test scores. Just be...innovative. (Yeah. Like moonlight at Walmart.)

[oekosjoe]

09:57 AM on 05/13/2011

Maria Montessori had a class of 72 diagnosed "retarded" children under 10 in 1895 or so and invented a method which still survives. Class size is more a matter of class organization than numbers.

[Narinder Singh]

04:12 PM on 05/02/2011

I couldn't agree more, and ironically, posted a related piece on huffington post today - (Can Education Save Us From Innovation?) - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/narinder-singh/can-education-save-us-fro_b_856081.html Also recent government initiatives around crowdsourcing could be applied towards more education related topics (see http://challenge.gov/search?cat=23&org=5 )

[changing]

01:08 PM on 05/02/2011

Please-schools are closing and teachers are being laid off. The last thing we need to waste money with is making an exciting curriculum. We have been writing curriculums for the last hundred years. Wow if we could just excite our kids, they would all fall all over themselves to do algebra work.
More Obama stupidity in education policy.

[broui]

11:25 PM on 05/02/2011

Was Obama responsible for the curricula of the last 100 years too?

Everyone tries to reinvent the wheel. This administration is doing what all of them do. It is no different.

We have an American culture problem. Increasingly, kids are coming into schools without the work ethic, intellectual curiosity and accountability to be good students. And increasingly, teachers and administrators are being stripped of their power, credibility and ability to counter that change in our society with bad legislation and fear of law suits.

So, we try to counter with "exciting" curriculum that will "hook" students. But none are sustainable.

We're not serious in America about education. We simply like to blame the easily blamed.

[changing]

10:45 AM on 05/03/2011

Obama may well destroy public education. He makes Bush's NCLB look like kiddy play compared to Arne's corporate takeover of the schools. Yes, Obama is responsible; if his DOE were not in bed with the right wing testing companies and charter corporations, the Repubs would not have cover for what they are doing to dismantle public education. As Christie said, Obama and Duncan are his best allies.

[Tully Rand]

08:43 PM on 05/03/2011

I agree with you about this cultural problem. Our graduates today have such bad habits and limited skills that their diplomas are not worth the paper they are printed upon. Indeed, this problem has even spread throughout higher education. President Obama wants us to have the highest number of college graduates in the world. Unfortunately, he fails to realize that the vast majority of our current graduates cannot read, write or count beyond an elementary level. These individuals enter the work force without the intellectual ability to engage in critical thinking, analyze information, or problem solve. Indeed, what we are seeing is that an increasing number of 20-30 somethings live as perpetual adolescents, due to their inability to cope in the working world.

[oekosjoe]

10:01 AM on 05/13/2011

In the 1960's, as a response to Sputnik, we developed loads of seriously innovative curriculum, none of which survives. This is the most profoundly absurd and a-historic "solution" imaginable. There's plenty of "innovation" in the archives, the problem is one of listening and looking from a student, parent, and future perspective. It is, after all, more their future than ours, and they should have some ownership of it. Perhaps the best curricular innovation is to convene teams of kids to review, evaluate, and suggest adopting the innovations of the past, since there are...about 30 years of them to review.